Surveillance for foodborne-disease outbreaks--United States, 1998-2002.

Abstract

Methods to detect FBDOs are improving, and several changes to improve the ease and timeliness of reporting FBDO data have been implemented (e.g., a revised form to simplify FBDO reporting by state health departments and improved electronic reporting methods). State and local health departments continue to investigate and report FBDOs as part of efforts to better understand and define the epidemiology of foodborne disease in the United States. At the regional and national levels, surveillance data provide an indication of the etiologic agents, vehicles of transmission, and contributing factors associated with FBDOs and help direct public health actions to reduce illness and death caused by FBDOs.